


si 



SI 



SI 



A NARRATIVE 

OF MY 

WANDERINGS 
in BRAZIL 

SOUTH AMERICA 



IS 



IS 



IS 



. GEORGE W. WHEELER 
914 NORTH ELEVENTH STREET 
PHILADELPHIA 
PENNA. 



CAPTAIN WHEELER'S 



Narrative of his Wanderings 



in 



BRAZIL 



...SOUTH AMERICA... 



PHILADELPHIA 

1899 



F i r i -i 



Copyrighted November 21, 1898 
BY- 
GEORGE W. WHEELER 



4|2>S 



rt. 




N the year of 1840, the city of Wilmington, Delaware was 
a whaling port, having a fleet of five ships engaged in 
that business. Being in Wilmington at that time engaged 
in the bookbinding business, boarding at a hotel where 
the company boarded the men who had signed the shipping papers 
which bound them to go on a voyage on one of the two vessels then 
in port, the ships " Thomas Jefferson " and the " Lucy Ann." 

On becoming acquainted with the men I found them to be 
hail fellows well met, and, having a penchant for the sea and her 
beautiful islands since the day I mastered my first book, Robinson 
Crusoe, I said to myself here is my chance to realize the dream of 
my boyhood life, perhaps the best opportunity that will ever occur 
to me. I reasoned the matter over and over. , I found I had no 
ties at home to keep me there except my mother, and she was 
willing that I should make the voyage and see the sights of the 
world. She being quite well to do, spent a considerable sum of 
money in fitting me out with articles to trade with among the 
natives of the South Sea Islands. We set sail on the first day of 
December 1841. 

In about four days after leaving port we were overtaken by 
the most terrible storm I ever experienced in any of my voyages. 
I was not sea sick, never was, the seas seemed to me to be fifty feet 
high, and very steep, which they are, when the wind is blowing 
directly against the force of the Gulf Stream; at such times there is no 
rougher place to be found on the ocean. 

The boats were hoisted above the usual place and made fast 
for fear they might be dashed to pieces by the force of the angry 
waves. The ship tossed up and down and rolled from side to side 
in such a manner that no one could stand upon the deck. A rope 
had been rigged along the rail from stem to stern. In working our 
way fore and aft we would grasp this rope and go hand over hand 
from one end of the ship to the other. When the weather side 
was well up we would have no support for our feet and for a half 
a minute we would dangle by our arms, drenched and almost 
smothered by the heavy salt spray which dashed over the bulwarks. 
The situation engendered thought, and I thought to myself if the 
sea is always thus I would feel much happier behind the plow, on 



4 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

the old farm. Only two men were allowed to be on the deck at a 
time and only two hours at a time, turn and turn about, the rest 
staying below for fear the decks might be swept by a heavy sea and 
all above lost. Sometimes in a heavy storm, ships have had every 
thing above deck swept away, men, mast, rigging, boats, in fact the 
decks were left clean of everything, while those below were saved. 

Three days we were swept by this hurricane when the horizon 
began to lighten up, the wind died away, the heavy waves began to 
subside, and old ocean to assume her normal sway, soon the sails 
were spread, and the ship began to make headway towards the 
Azore Islands. 

I will make the statement here that sailing vessels intending to 
go 'round the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn make the East as 
far as the parallel longitude of these islands, then in variable winds 
work their way down to the Cape de Verdes where they mostly 
make the trade winds, which carry them on a slant Westward 
within two or four degrees of the Equator where they meet with a 
calm for four or five days, even to twelve or fourteen at times, 
when they catch the Southern trade winds which carry them towards 
the Brazilian Coast down to Rio de Janeiro or South of there, then 
in the variable wind work down to and around Cape Horn. It 
would be hard work for a sailing vessel to make Rio de Janeiro by 
sailing South any where near the coast line as Cape St. Roque ex- 
tends so far Eastward, it being the extreme East of South America 
and far North of Rio de Janeiro. In this voyage we made Hie 
Grande, or Grand Island. 

It was so doomed that I should be cast upon this Island, the 
Hie Grande, and grand it is beyond compare ; a paradise of beauty 
and sublimity combined with loveliness, no poor words of mine 
can do it justice, you must see it to know it. 

My Robinson Crusoe love came back to me in full force. I 
thought I had found the place I was looking for. After venturing 
around my hopes were dashed, I found people, towns and villages, 
farms and orange groves, coffee plantations, bananas and pine- 
apples, potatoes, yams and rice fields ; and I also found that which 
did not please me most, that there were too many people there for 
me to dispute wittr, aod I was not monarch of all I suryeyed ; so 
I thought I would not retire here, but march onward from the 
small town where I was stopping. I had the good luck to find a 
canoe manned by three natives who were selling beef and pork to 
the people who lived in the villages and towns along the shore of 
the island. The customs of the people struck me as being curious 
when compared to those of my own home. The hogs are killed 



IS BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 5 

and cleaned, they are not skinned, neither are the bristles taken off. 
The hogs are cut in two and salted without brine, when sufficiently 
salted, (which is a great deal too salt to suit my taste) they are then 
rolled up tightly and tied with a string or cord and packed in a 
splint basket made for the purpose. The beef is served in the 
same manner excepting that it is skinned, and it is necessary that 
it be well soaked before using. 

While staying in the town or near the town, I was called 
early in the morning and went out in the sugar cane patch of the 
family, taking a bucket with us, there they had two rollers each 
about eight inches in diameter and about four feet long. When the 
handle was turned the rollers went 'round, crushing whatever 
might be between them. One man with a machette cut the sugar 
cane, the bucket was put under the rollers, I turned the handle, the 
other man fed in the cane and we soon had enough for our purpose. 
While we were in the field the women were burning coffee and 
crushing it in a mortar with a pestle and boiling farina and water 
over a fire. Two men had milked the cow. The coffee was tied 
in a flannel bag and dropped into the boiling water ; the milk and 
sugar cane juice were poured in part and part with the water. 
When done the bag was taken out and there were no grounds or 
sediment to spoil that coffee, it was the best I have ever tasted. It 
was nectar for Jove, and I have been longing for another taste of 
it for fifty years. When the farina was done it was poured out 
into a large tin pan (like a milk pan) and was set upon the ground 
to cool ; when cool enough breakfast was ready and so was I. 
We all gathered around the farina, each of us with a block or stone 
to sit upon, and our coffee was handed to us in cups. I saw no 
spoons, knives or forks. I wondered how we should eat when the 
company dove their hands into the farina, obtaining enough to 
make a ball of dimension to suit their mouths. They made the 
ball by rolling it in the palm of their hands, when done they 
opened their mouths, gave the ball a toss and caught it with a 
dexterity that astonished me. I did not know whether to call it 
sleight of hand or mouth. Then the old saying occurred to me, 
" one half of the world does not know how the other half lives ; 
and it is true in more ways than one. 

As I watched them I began to think I could do it too. I said 
to myself here goes to, do when in Rome as Rome does. I rolled 
my ball, gave it a toss towards my mouth, but I made a mistake in 
my aim, it was poor, and the ball hit the end of my nose and it spat- 
tered over my face. I shall never forget the laugh that went up 
around the board at my expense. I felt so ashamed that I wanted 



6 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

some place to hide my red face. One of the women ran and 
brought a bowl and spoon from the house and thus armed I made 
out a good breakfast with only two articles of food, think of it, ye 
epicures who dine on roast beef flanked by a host of vegetables 
and grand top off with a piece of mince pie and two or three 
glasses of champagne and then grumble like a bear with a sore 
head, don't you wish you had the appetite I had, well you can find 
it if you take the right course and it is not expensive. These peo- 
ple are the most confirmed beggars I ever fell among, and if not 
beggars they are askers. I had a black silk handkerchief around 
my neck and a silk pocket handkerchief with grandfather Harri- 
son's portrait in the centre, and some other trifles, and it was pre- 
sentee me this and presentee me that, and I began to be stripped of 
one thing after another, I had to stop presenting out of sheer shame, 
I would soon have been without covering to my body. 

In a couple of days the traders of the canoe had finished their 
business and were ready to start. I took free passage with them 
hoping that by some good luck I should be enabled to reach the 
main land. As we were sailing or rowing leisurely along the inner 
shore of the island its grandeur and beauty began to dawn upon 
me, all through the progress we made it seemed to be opening up to 
a more beautiful panoramic view. As we sailed between the main 
island and the islets off shore the soul charmed and entranced by 
the scene. A great poet's description of Paradise could not have 
equaled it. But man was there and with him his slime to dim its 
glory. In the shady grove, by the murming rills, the slave 
dragged out his sordid life, denied the right of self, the right of 
birthright and a name, his children carried away and sold to the 
hard task master, it seemed to me that the beauty of scene and the 
freedom of the birds were in mockery of them, in mockery of men 
to make their burden of woe heavier. It is ever so with man, his 
extreme selfishness in many instances crushes out all sense of moral 
obligation of man to man. 

Some of these Islets are quite level while some rise to a height 
terrace after terrace ; on these terraces wealthy people from Portugal 
and Spain, who were consumptives had built their beautiful cot- 
tages of lumber painted in various styles, surrounded by flowers, 
there to pass the remainder of their lives in the peace inviting pros- 
pect, lulled and charmed to forgetfulness by the beauty of and soft 
humming of the honey sucking birds. 

At times we would meet other voyagers making their way to 
some depot to sell their coffee or other produce. These canoes are 
very large and are formed of the trunk of one tree; those for 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 7 

distant sailing where they have to encounter roughish seas are from 
fifty to seventy feet long by eight to ten feet wide, having a cabin 
at the stern with from six to ten berths, they have two masts, a 
square sail on the foremast, a fore and aft sail on the mainmast, 
such a one was ours and she was quite comfortable though a slow 
sailer. The canoes for short distances and for fishing purposes are 
much smaller but all are hollowed out of a single log. 

As we passed between the Islets and main Island in the evening 
we could hear the music of the guitar in the houses on both shores, and 
in the groves and sequestered places we could hear the horrid sound 
of the instruments of the slaves ; I do not know the name, they 
are made of steel, all in one piece something like a saw screwed to 
a piece of wood, instead of saw teeth imagine a long tongue of 
steel at the beginning tapering down one after another to give the 
different notes; it is played by striking the keys with a hammer and 
is fearfully discordant in the hands of a bad player ; all tunes 
seemed the same to me, it was Tunka, Tunka, Tunka, Tunka, Kee, 
Tunka, Tunka, Kee. Perhaps my bad taste could not appreciate 
it. It tended to show me, though man be bowed down in slavery's 
chains, if he is sound in physique his inward joy is left to him and 
it will crop out at times even though it makes but a doleful sound. 
The farther we advanced the more I became impressed with the 
beauty of this wonderful landscape. Here high hills, there rising 
abruptly, a mountain with a perpendicular side like a wall thous- 
ands of feet high, here a broad flat valley dotted by houses and 
green with coffee trees, yonder through the valley we can trace the 
winding of a silvery stream in its meandering course towards the 
bay, a scene never to be forgotten while life holds firm. I viewed 
it fifty-five years ago, it is in my memory still. 

After the Captain had finished his trading we made sail for the 
city of Ille Grande across the bay some ten miles on the main 
land, where we arrived late in the evening and struck the nose of 
the canoe against the shore amidst hundreds of others. Canoes 
appeared to be the only kind of shipping here. I awoke early the 
next morning and took a stroll through the city before breakfast; 
it appeared to be a city of ten thousand souls, very well built, some 
few pretentious hotels, stores and dwelling houses of the rich. 
Most of the houses were only two stories high and scantily fur- 
nished, in fact people need but little furniture there as they sleep in 
hammocks or on the floor with a block for a pillow. A few dishes, 
some cooking utensils, a half a dozen chairs, three or four trunks 
and a furnace and the house of the middle classes are furnished, 
and God save the poor for the poor are poor there, poor and lazy ; 



8 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

I might say something else but I will leave you to guess; I will how- 
ever say that combs don't grow on trees there or perhaps they might 
scare up ambition to pick a few for decency sake. 

It so happened that it was Sunday morning when I was tak- 
ing mv stroll and I had an opportunity to see the ladies going to 
Church. They were fine looking and they dressed neatly, but few 
of them wore shoes outright, instead they have what is called 
Sapatra, a wooden sole with high heels, silk or satin is nailed over 
the toe part, the ladies with stockings on or with no stockings stick 
their toes under the satin and at every step the back part of the 
sole drops down and it is clatter, clatter as they hurry along, while 
their musical voices keep time with the music of their heels. In 
the evening about sun set I took another stroll and I had to pick 
my way in front of thousands of staring eyes, and these Brazilian 
ladies are not bashful when it comes to staring. It seemed as if 
the whole town were out on the pavement sitting on chairs or boxes, 
some singing to the music of the guitar, some merely playing the 
instrument, some chattering nonsense, all looking with those lan- 
guishing eyes of the Spanish beauties. To me it was a thrilling 
experience, at last I came across one of the boatmen, he took me by 
the arm and led me to the boat, he was afraid I might be lost in 
love, if I had I should be now a Brazilian coffee planter, perhaps 
wealthy. 

As I laid down to rest on Sunday night I thought over the 
routine for Monday's work and I came to the conclusion that I 
would leave the canoe early in the morning, and try and find my 
way out of the city by the roadway that led to Rio de Janeiro. I 
was up betimes and took a walk prospecting and making inquiries 
as far as I was able for the want of understanding the Lingo de 
Portugueso. I made but little progress and went down to the canoe 
for breakfast. After breakfast I started again ; I had much better 
luck this time, someone took me to a shoemaker's shop, kept by an 
American and he pointed out the way to me. I immediately 
started and left the city behind me, I was on the road to Rio de 
Janeiro, I walked some few miles, there were some few houses along 
the road and some quite large hotels, frequented by foreigners who 
travel there for business, health or pleasure. By this time the sun 
was setting and I began to look around for a bed. I found one, a large, 
bare, flat rock on which the sun had been shining all day, it was quite 
warm and comfortable; without having broken my fast since breakfast, 
I laid me down to rest and slept soundly. I arose at day-break, 
not knowing when or where I should get the next meal. I started 
on determined to face all obstacles, early in the afternoon I saw a 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 9 

large stone house not far from the road, I made my way there and 
was received kindly ; there was in the house the wife and three 
daughters, the wife was very dark for a white woman, I suspected 
her of being a half-breed. It is common there for the white and 
Indian to intermarry ; two of the daughters favored the mother as 
two peas favor each other and they were short and stout ; the other 
was tall and slim, fair as a lily, blonde hair and blue eyes. The old 
lady was determined I should marry one of the dark daughters, 
but I had no inclination that way and thoughts were at work try- 
ing to find the way out of the noose of matrimony. If it had been 
the blonde I should have been nothing loth. I was soon on good 
terms with them, what with the mother placing the daughter's hand 
in mine every now and then, and playing cards, eating, and drink- 
ing wine I began to feel quite at home. Towards evening the 
husband and the son-in-law came home. I found the son-in-law 
to be the husband of my fair haired" girl and my hopes in that 
quarter were dashed. At dusk a troop of slaves came filing in, 
they lived in a row of rough cottages on the side of a hill about a 
hundred yards from the house. They marched by the planter and 
were counted some fifty of them. The trouble with the slaves in 
Brazil is that they had legs, and like our slaves were apt to travel 
at times. 

After we had supper the three daughters and the young hus- 
band took me some distance from the house, where the tops of the 
rock showed bare among the grass, we took seats and tried to under- 
stand one another ; it was uphill work as it was mostly by dumb 
motions "with now and then a word which I understood, which 
made the company seem more sociable ; once in a while they would 
roll up my sleeves and examine my arms and sing out, much a 
bianco (very white) Americano est starbonno (very good). I 
noticed the dark ladies seemed to b_ highly pleased, and I thought 
there is many a slip between the cup and the lip, and that there 
would be many a slip before my lips touched either of theirs and it 
came literally true. When we went back to the house the planter 
began talking to me, he could speak some English, he told me that 
besides being a planter he carried on the lumber business and had a 
furniture manufactory, and all the lumber was hand sawed from logs, 
there being no machinery in Brazil at that time to saw by, steam 
or water power, and that he wanted me to stay with him and marry 
one of his daughters as he wanted no half breeds in his family as 
they were poor stock. He also told me he was not a Brazilian or 
Portuguese but a Spaniard from Andalusia and of pure blood him- 
self, which I could readily believe as he was tall, of fine form, 



10 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

very light with blue eyes, and of him his married daughter was a 
type, he said he would pay me well and would require of me no 
labor but merely to watch the slaves and keep them at work as 
they would not work unless watched. In the end I promised, I 
have felt sorry for it ever since for it was a shame to disappoint so 
kind a man ; besides his family might get mixed, and I was deter- 
mined that I would not mix mine. When bed time came I began 
to wonder where they would put me to sleep ; I saw only enough 
beds for the family, I began to think they would have me married 
before bed time so that I might have a place to sleep. They soon 
settled that question by laying a dried bullock's hide on the earth 
floor and a square block of wood for a pillow. As a matter of fact 
of course I laid down as if I was used to it, but it was a sorry night's 
rest. As I lay there I conned the question whether I should stay 
there and take the consequences as they arose or march onward 
towards home. Something within seemed to say home, and home 
got the best of it before I went to sleep. 

By sun-rise in the morning I was awake, I went out behind 
the house where there was a shed and saw the slaves sharpening the 
big saws with files. The screeching noise went through me like a 
knife and I said to myself on, on, home is beyond. I sauntered 
along slowly as if I was looking at things. When I got the rocks 
between me and the house I put electricity in my feet and got over 
the ground like a three year old colt. I had gone about two miles 
when I saw a large elegant building with a fine garden, a great lawn 
with walks winding through it, seemingly to be the abode of wealth. 
Near by on the other side of the way was a small river and a 
wharf at which lay a small brig loading with coffee. There 
was a large storehouse between the river and the road with 
a row of benches in front of it, on one of the benches there 
was a man sitting whom I approached to ask if I was on 
the right road to Rio de Janeiro. " You are an American ", he 
said, I said "yes", he said " I am an Irishman employed here by the 
gentleman who lives in that large house, as his gardener, if you 
would like to stay perhaps I may be able to get you a position ; he 
likes to have Americans about him ". About this time the bell rang 
for breakfast, he said, "come up to the house with me and get your 
breakfast, he keeps open house at meal time, all who are in the 
neighborhood are welcome to eat at his table ". I was hungry, but 
I felt something inside of me tugging me homeward and I did not 
go for fear I might be induced to stay, so I trudged onward, fol- 
lowing after a train of mules which came down from the upper 
country loaded with coffee to sell to the wealthy shipper who kept 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 11 

open house and were now on their way home loaded with casks of 
wine and many guitars ; every house has from one to five guitars 
so there must be a great trade in that article. That day I passed 
through quite a large town of some two thousand souls, besides I 
passed quite a number of small villages from five to twenty cabins. 
These cabins are built by driving poles about two and a half inches 
in diameter perpendicularly in the ground, other smaller ones are 
lashed on top and forms a peak, a large stroug grass and vines are 
woven into the sides while the roof is covered with grass a foot in 
thickness and is serviceable. There is no upstairs or floors, the 
earth is smoothed to answer the purpose. No doors or windows, 
merely holes which can be stopped at pleasure. One can be built 
in three days for twenty-five dollars. 

I kept the mules and their drivers in sight throughout the day. 
Late in the afternoon they came to the foot of a mountain range 
over which the road zigzaged, being too steep to allow of going 
straight up. I slowly came up to them ; they had a fire and were 
preparing an evening meal. I had had no breakfast or dinner and 
it smelt very appetizing to me. I approached one who seemed to 
be the leader, and said to him, " I carest to mungee, Senor." He 
sings out loudly, " Bessem bora." I did not move and repeated, 
" I carest to mungee, Senor." He pulled out a large horse pistol 
and pushed the muzzle against me three times, saying, "Bessem bora, 
Bessem bora," three times in succession as he pushed. It was a defin- 
ition of Bessem bora to me and I bessem boraed ; in other words, I 
took a back track and walked about a mile to where I had seen 
some sheds and opposite the sheds a small by-road leading through 
the forest. I entered the road there. There was a heavy thunder 
shower coming up and it was as dark as pitch in the forest; 
I could only see how to make my way by the flashes of lightning. 
All at once I found myself in a run of water up to my middle ; I 
pushed on through and came to a clearing of about an acre in ex- 
tent with a hut in the centre. I could see through the curtain that 
there was a light inside. I walked slowly towards the hut for fear 
there might be a dog there and I was in no mood for fighting. If 
I had been forced to fight at that time it would have been through 
desperation and I would have fought to a finish. When I reached 
the hut I knocked, a negress opened the door. When she saw me 
she gave an awful scream. Her husband, a burly negro, came 
running to the door with a fifteen inch knife in his hand and sung 
out, u Bessem bora robber." I spoke to him in the best Portuguese 
lingo I could command and told him that I was no robber but 
wanted something to eat, at the same time turning my pockets 
inside out to show him that I had no offensive weapons. 



12 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

It availed me nothing and I was forced to depart empty. I 
walked through the lot some two hundred yards, hungry and 
weary, almost dead for sleep. The thunder crashing, the lightning 
flashing, the rain pouring in torrents, I was wet to the skin. I 
had on a pair of heavy boots and thick woolen stockings. The 
water had filled my boots and the stockings, swelling, cramped and 
hurt my feet. I pulled off my boots and stockings and my feet 
felt easier, so I thought I would take a nap. I lay down upon 
the tall soft grass and put my tarpaulin hat over my face to ward 
off the heavy rain drops. In a few minutes it seemed as if all of 
the mosquitoes in that section had come for shelter under the hat. 
It was the most powerful mosquito serenade I had ever received ; 
altogether too grand a music for my nerves. I was forced to 
arise. I put on my boots and wended my way, if possible, to some 
more quiet quarters. In pulling on my boots I forgot my stock- 
ings and left them lying among the grass lost to me, a most serious 
loss as I shall tell farther on when it comes upon me in full force. 

I made my way out of the lot and again waded the stream 
which was now a torrent and dangerous, but I succeeded in getting 
across and made my way through the woods to the road where I 
had seen the sheds, hoping they would at least ward off the rain. 
I went under one and laid down to rest but there was no rest for 
the wicked ; soon the rain worked its way through the old worn- 
out grass roof and was dropping on me heavier than ever. The 
floor, which was a yellowish clay, began to get soft and the puddles 
gathered around and under me ; I was cold and my teeth chattered. 
I thought I could warm myself by dancing so I got up and danced, 
but the dancing had no mirth and but little warmth in it. Was it 
anything to wonder at? I repeated the exercise several times 
before morning. Towards morning the storm passed away. In the 
morning the sun rose bright and clear, and not a cloud in sight. 
I arose under the darkest cloud I had yet experienced in my short 
life. Nothing to eat yesterday, no breakfast in sight, weary with 
travel and want of sleep, my hair full of yellow mud, daubed from 
head to foot, my white duck trousers looked as if they had been 
made out of nankeen. A man who had just opened the door of the 
hut opposite to me saw my condition and laughed. I could not 
blame him ; I laughed at myself when pictured in the stream 
where I went to make a wholesale ablution. I washed up clean as 
I could and dried my clothes on the bushes in the hot sun and 
they were soon ready to put on, and I was soon ready to travel on. 

On arriving at the shed where I was advised to " Bessem 
bora" I found the occupants had started up the mountain pass. 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 13 

I followed suit but saw them no more. The road was steep and of 
a yellowish clay made soft by the last night's rain. The hoofs of 
the mules had sunk in five to ten inches making holes which were 
full of water. As I moved upward I found the way slippery and 
I could only make headway by taking hold of bushes growing at 
the sides and pulling; thus I advanced hand over hand, a tiring, 
and to me, a painful task. It was only the thought of home that 
sustained me. It was here I first began to feel the loss of my 
woolen stockings. My shoes fitting well with the stockings on, 
were loose without them and my feet slipped about in them and 
blistered. I persevered ; every step forward was a step towards 
home. About noon I came across a small frame house in which 
was kept a restaurant where travelers could get a meal, something 
to drink or a night's lodging. I had sold a razor I had with me to a 
village barber for an English shilling ; not that I had ever shaved 
but had been shaved perhaps in the way of trade. The money 
made me bold so I went in and called for something to eat. Broiled 
beef, bread and coffee were set before me and I ate with a relish, 
having tasted nothing since supper at my friend's, the Andalusian 
Spaniard. When I offered my English shilling for payment my 
host could not change it ; there were a couple of Frenchmen there 
who had finished their dinner and were preparing to start away on 
horses. They came forward and paid for my dinner and gave me 
back my shilling, so I was a good dinner in as well as a good 
dinner in me. I started on greatly refreshed and much more 
joyous. I soon reached the top of the mountain and found the 
road dry on the other side and went down on the half run, and had 
reached the valley before night but I saw no house and met no one. 
I prepared myself a bed in the best manner I could and went to 
sleep supperless and slept soundly ; I needed it. I was up in the 
morning by sunrise and washed myself in a stream near by and 
took a drink of water for my breakfast and felt quite spry and 
ready for another day's journey, and thus I traveled for three days 
without food, stooping down and drinking at every brook for fear 
I should see no more water. I was determined I would have the 
last drink at the last water. Thank God, the water saw me 
through. On the fourth morning I saw looming up before me a 
mountain of greater proportion than any I had crossed. Looking 
up I thought I saw the top but I was mistaken. I pressed on 
lively only to find what I thought to be the top but the beginning : 
there seemed to be a mountain on a mountain. I did not get dis- 
couraged ; home in the distance was ever before me and I knew I 
would not die without seeing it, no matter what else might happen. 



14 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

By noon I had reached the apex and such a sight ! I stood there 
without a coat and I was cold at that height, hungry and weary 
with hard work and a fast of four days. It was the blessed water 
and my determination alone that sustained me ; feet aching with 
blisters, how often I thought of the lost stockings. Five thousand 
miles from home, having seen no one to talk to for four days, with 
an English shilling and a jack knife in my pocket on which to 
work my way home. At that time to me the past was as nothing, 
the beauty, grandeur and sublimity of the scene had subdued every 
other thought. Mountain after mountain, hills, valleys, lakes and 
streams, rocks upon rocks, and farther down the glorious green of 
the great trees— so different from the green of our trees, so varied 
in the shades you would think it was designed for the sight of man, 
but few men see it and it cannot be known by description, words 
fail to realize it to the brain. I spread my arms and opened my 
mouth to give vent to my feelings. No words came forth, I could 
think of none grand enough. Inwardly I thanked God for afford- 
ing me an opportunity (even though under difficulties) of beholding 
the glory of his handiwork. On the other side of this mountain I 
came to a vast plain, delightful in temperature of about sixty-five 
degrees, the thermometer never rising or falling more than ten 
degrees the year through ; forests with now and then a clearing, 
with huts here and there, orange groves, coffee trees, corn and rice 
fields. At one of the huts I got a good meal for " thanky." All 
through the woods I could hear the loud chattering of the parrots. 
I saw many monkeys and little manchetts. The monkeys would 
stop and look at me as if I was a stranger and had no business 
there, and they were about right. The manchetts, little men I 
called them, and as such are very interesting and show us how we 
have grown by the process of evolution. They came quite close to 
me and chattered and shook their heads as if they would like to 
engage me in conversation. I could not understand their lingo, 
though I have no doubt but what it was intelligent enough in their 
way. I journeyed two days along this road with sore feet and 
having lost my stockings, some kind of an insect that lurks in the 
grass had bitten my ankles to such a degree that there was no skin 
on them and they w r ere bleeding. I was afraid to ask for food at 
the huts or houses ; I was liable to arrest for traveling without a 
passport. 

On the morning of the third day I arose from my refreshing 
slumbers on the ground, and on an empty stomach, sore and stiff 
of limbs, I could make but little headway. I would walk the best 
I could for a hundred yards or so, then lie down to rest awhile. 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 15 

In the middle of the afternoon I came to quite a large and pretty 
village, St. Mark's by name ; I was so entirely done up that I 
had made up my mind that I would risk the prison where I could 
get some rest and something to eat rather than starve. 

I was looking for an office of a Justice of the Peace, when a gen- 
tleman who was walking down the street sang out to me, " Where 
are you going?" They were the first English words I had heard 
spoken for three weeks. I straightened up, inspired by hope, 
and told him I was hunting for the Justice of the Peace, that I 
might be sent to prison as I was tired and hungry and too much 
worn out to walk farther. He said the Justice of the Peace was 
no good and I must come with him. He took me, dirty and for- 
lorn as I was, to a tavern, and ordered a good chicken supper and 
ate with me, and I did it justice. It being early in the evening we 
staid there until nine o'clock, he playing cards for coffee, I resting. 
Once in a while he would place a cup of good coffee on a stand, 
inviting me to drink. I was nothing loath to that operation. 
After he had finished his playing he took me to an office in his 
large store and showed me a couch on which to sleep and left me 
there to rest until morning. 

Early in the morning he was at the office to greet me, and 
gave me a suit of his clothes to wear and a bar of soap, and told 
me to go down to the run and wash the clothes as well as myself, 
which I did. He gave me a comb to comb my hair. I had not 
combed it since I landed in Brazil. With his clothes on and my 
hair combed I began to feel respectable. After I had hung my 
clothes up to dry, he said, " Come with me to breakfast," and we 
had our breakfast at the tavern where we took supper. After 
breakfast we had a talk together and he told me he came from the 
Azore Island of Fayall, and arrived in Brazil fully as poor as I 
was, yet he had prospered, that he was the owner of the large 
store house I saw and was doing a thriving business in importing 
and selling goods to the citizens of mines which had in the vicinity 
a population larger than Rio de Janeiro at that time, and I did not 
doubt him as it was the centre of the gold and diamond fields away 
back in the mountains. He took me through his store and it was 
a large one, fully two hundred feet long by one hundred feet wide, 
piled up with bales and boxes, casks, saddles, in fact, with almost 
everything. There was no retailing done here which made it a 
very pretty business, everything but the selling and desking being 
done by slaves. He said he would get me a place in the town 
where I could earn my living while studying the language. 
Having done that to his satisfaction, that he would take me into 



16 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

his store. After that it depended on myself whether I made a for- 
tune or not. If I did well he would second all my aims, and I 
pondered over the question. I thought perhaps it might be the 
chance of my life, then home loomed up in my soul and I thought 
" What, immure myself in a strange land amidst strange people, far 
away from my kindred and those I love, for the chance of making 
a fortune " — it was only a chance, not a certainty, and the answer 
came back, " No, never. Better among friends with a bare living 
than among strangers with wealth to be fought for." Perhaps, if 
I had been older the decision might have been different. As yet 
the fountain of my love had not been sapped. The gentleman 
said he would see if he could get me a place. We stopped at a 
large retail grocery near by and the proprietor said he would be 
glad to have me as the natives were slow and with but little inclin- 
ation to work. I told him I had not yet fully made up my mind 
to stop in the country. I slept another night determined to say 
yes or no the next day and abide by my decision, let what would 
come of it. 

The next morning I told my friend I would not stay, for I 
could not forsake entirely my old home and relations. He said he 
would like me to stay awhile, that he honored me for my resolution 
as he had gone through it all and knew the strength of the ties of 
old associations still tugging at his heart, the tears dropping from 
his eyes the while. 

After dinner I donned my own clothes and bid my friend 
adieu. In walking down the street I took notice of the tailors 
making coats in their shops. They sit upon stools and not upon a 
board crossed legged as our tailors do. I soon came to the open 
country, and in the course of a hour came to a low flat meadow 
land with ditches running up and down as is seen in our meadows, 
with a road or causeway running straight across it. It put me 
more in mind of home than any part of Brazil I had yet seen, in 
fact, I never saw any meadow in this country to compare to it. 

All over its wide expanse were to be seen grazing, fat cattle, 
and fine cattle they were, their horns extending some four or five 
feet from their heads and very wide apart at the top. Interspersed 
w T ith the cattle were many horses, fat, sleek and shiney, and of fine 
proportion. I stopped awhile to admire them and I suppose I had 
crossed three- fourths of the way when it began to grow dark, the sun 
having set, and there is but little twilight in that country. I began 
to look around for a bed to have another supperless sleep. I espied 
some hay in the meadow and a fence being handy I placed some 
sticks across and covered them with hay upon the damp ground 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 17 

and thought I had a complete bed. Soon the mosquitoes began 
their music. If there is anything I despise it is the hum of the 
hungry mosquito. Soon I heard a piercing sound and I thought 
all of the horns in the town about a mile ahead of me were blow- 
ing in their shrillest sounds. It was almost unbearable; the mos- 
quitos were entirely knocked out. I arose and saw coming towards 
me two carts of large dimensions, four pairs of oxen to each cart, 
each cart having two slaves as drivers. These carts are not like 
our carts, having wheels with hubs and spokes, and- turning on an 
axle, but a rough apology made of planks crossing each other and 
sawed round, forming a wheel solidly fast at the axle, wheels and 
axle each turning together, requiring a great deal of grease, and 
when the grease fails then look out for screeching enough to split 
your brains. 

After the carts had passed I walked on to the town. I stopped 
a man in the street, and asked where I could get a night's lodging 
and something to eat. He told me to walk up the main street 
which we were on and wherever I heard a piano I would be sure to 
find Americans there who would tend to me. I walked about a 
mile up the main street, saw many fine houses built in the Ameri- 
can cottage style, heard many pianos but was afraid to present my 
forlorn self before the evidence of wealth and comfort. I turned 
on my heel and walked back to the outskirts where I found an un- 
occupied shed and laid down on the ground, tired and hungry. I 
soon began to feel cold and had to get up and take a little exercise 
for warmth. . A dog came along and made friends with me. I 
lay down and he lay beside me and kept me warm. Misery loves 
company, and even the warmth of a dog is more pleasant than 
chattering teeth. I arose next morning somewhat rested. The 
first man I saw I asked him if I was on the right road to Rio de 
Janeiro. " Est via, Senor," he would say and I walked on all of 
that day, the road turning around high steep hills, foot-hills of the 
mountains. One thing that astonished me was the size of the 
bamboo growing there. Some was over fifteen inches in diameter 
and at least one hundred and fifty feet high. It is used for many 
purposes, one of them is to convey water to the houses, in the 
same manner as we use pipes, only above the ground instead of 
underneath it. 

Through my wanderings I saw birds and butterflies dressed 
in gorgeous colors. They were strange to me. At night the 
gloom would be lightened up by a large bug some two inches 
long. When they raised their wings you would see a phosphorous 
light covering half their bodies. If you have no other light, 



IS \ NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

by gathering a half-dozen of these bugs you can read your book by 
the light they give. The flowers of Brazil in some places are 
simply wonderful. I am not capable of describing them, not being 
a botanist. I traveled along this road for three days without food, 
making my meals of water, which was rather thin for an empty 
stomach. 

In the afternoon of the third day as I was passing through a 
village I saw a store where they sold things to eat. I picked up 
courage and went in, to barter, not to buy, as I had no money. 
My sailor jack knife and I were about to part, when I should be en- 
tirely bereft of auy kind of offensive weapon. I offered the knife for 
sale and the store keeper bought it, paying twelve dumps for it. 
A dump. is a copper piece about as large as an English penny. I 
saw some cups of boiled rice upon the counter and asked the price, 
which was one dump. I bought one. The store keeper handing 
a spoon said, " Rice and assucreest starbonno, very good," indeed I 
found it so. 

I wandered until night and came to a place where there was 
a store and two or three houses besides a stopping place or kind of 
hotel at which travelers stopped. There was a shed belonging to 
the hotel which happened to be empty. I laid down upon the 
bare ground, for all I knew to sleep supperless, but such was not to 
be. In the course of a half hour some one with a light came to 
me and handed me a cup of good coffee and a good-sized piece of 
bread which I ate with a relish only known to famished men. 
This man could talk some English. I asked him' how far it was 
to Rio de Janeiro and he told me it was about one hundred miles. 
I said I wished there was a railroad there like we had in America, 
then I could go there in half a day. He could not understand 
what I meant by a railroad. There is a railroad there now. A 
friend of mine lost his arm while acting as civil engineer at the 
building of it. He also told me that I had traveled a long round- 
about way to get to Rio de Janeiro ; that I should have taken the 
coast road and I would have avoided the mountain, and that I had 
yet another chain of mountains to cross. 

I bade him good bye and started on my weary way. I passed 
away two days without eating anything, but still noting what there 
was to be seen. Several villages seemingly populated by poor 
people, very primitive in their manners, and 1 saw many groves of 
coffee trees. It is coffee that is the chief production here and brings 
in most of the money to the poor who cultivate small groves and 
eel! their coffee by the hundred pounds to the dealer or trade it off 
for the necessities of life, such as Aquadent (tooth water), but I 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 19 

call it poor whiskey. I saw many plantains or bananas growing, 
and here I must say something in regard to the bananas. A single 
plant with its long broad leaves, its stalk loaded with fruit, is a 
picture worth the studying, I studied it well and simply pro- 
nounced it a glorious sight. Think then what a small field of 
them must be, grand to the sight, grand in the knowledge that 
they bear the major part of the food of millions of the people of 
the earth; and it is likely they appease more hunger than all 
of the wheat fields put together. I knew what was beneath their 
golden rind; I would not touch them, they were not mine. I 
would have starved in the road first and have died honest On the 
evening of the second day from where I tasted bread and coffee I 
saw a slave who had prepared his supper over a small fire under a 
shed; that supper consisted of boiled black beans: I said to him 
"Senor, American carest to rnungee", he divided his supper with me, 
I ate it with a relish and appetite which many times since I would 
have been glad to have had. When we were through he offered 
me a drink from his bottle, I declined, I was not a whiskey drinker, 
and thought it would be too bad to eat his food and to drink what 
cost the money. I bid him adios and journeyed on to the foot of 
the mountains which had been looming up all day before me, 
gradually becoming more and more distinct. I hunted a 
soft rock with a small piece for a pillow, I laid me down and fell 
asleep while contemplating the weary climb of to-morrow. I arose 
early next morning and refreshed myself at a brook and started 
towards the clouds. I was disappointed, gladly disappointed, for 
over these mountains I found the best road it ever was my luck to 
travel, paved solidly with rock and zigzaged in easy slopes, making 
the way pleasant instead of tiresome, on the sides where the steep 
rocks ran down into the valley there were balustrades of cut stone 
to insure safety to vehicles and I have ever been a lover of good 
roads free from toll gates. In good roads there is great economy, 
economy in the chafing of horse flesh, economy in the wear and 
tear upon the wagons and gears, economy in the hauling of far 
greater loads with the same team, economy in the time made in not 
having to stop to pay toll, economy to him who foots it in being 
able to walk farther in the same time without being worn out, 
bespattered with mud and out of humor. This road pleased me 
and I doubt whether there can be found in the United States a 
road over the mountains to equal this one in this benighted country 
of Brazil in the eighteen hundred and forty-second year of our Lord. 

Late in the afternoon I was far down on the last slope of the 
other side facing the great plains in which forty miles away stands 



20 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

Rio de Janeiro, one of the great seaports of the world where the 
flags of all nations congregate, when lo ! I saw an arch over the 
way with a sentinel pacing backward and forward with a musket 
on his shoulder; staring me in the face was this legend, short but to 
the point. " Taxadem da Passagem. It brought me to a stand- 
still, I had no money to pay toll, then what would they do with me 
was a solemn query ? 

The thought of home which lay on the other side of that 
portage made me desperate, I said to myself I will pass through 
though a hundred sentinels face me with fixed bayonets, or die in 
the attempt. 

I straightened up and began to whistle Yankee Doodle, I had 
on a sailor tarpaulin hat and in the front was painted an American 
flag, and to my surprise the sentinel bid me good day and I passed 
on without let or hindrance. I have often thought since whether 
it was the American flag or Yankee Doodle that softened his heart 
or whether there was no tax on foot travelers, perhaps it was the 
latter. 

I soon reached the plain and as it was getting dark I began to 
hunt for a bed. I found a large empty trough on posts standing 
about three feet from the ground. Into this I crawled and laid 
down to rest. In the morning I found myself sticking to the 
bottom of the trough ; the cracks in the bottom had been tarred to 
make it hold water and my once white duck pants became orna- 
mented in a conspicuous place. There was one advantage in it, it 
did not stare me in the face, and that was a great comfort. In the 
course of an hour I came to a collection of huts, among them was 
a small store. I spent my last dump for nine plantains or bananas. 
Though plantains are of the same species of fruit as the bananas 
they are much larger and so I had a glorious feast. 

At night I was within half a day's travel of the city. I lay 
down on the warm sand to rest and it proved to be more comforta- 
ble on a warm night than a down bed. The next morning, with- 
out breakfast, I started for the city. As I came nearer to it I 
could see very dimly the masts of the many ships lying in the 
harbor. As I advanced the masts became plainer and plainer and 
the flags of all nations began to show their legends. I looked 
from mast to mast, endeavoring to make out the American boast. 
At last I saw it undulating in the wind. How my heart went 
out to it. What a load seemed lifted from my spirits. I cried, I 
laughed, I hallooed, I danced, I cut up all kinds of antics, I 
would have turned a somersault if I had been able. If anyone 
saw me they must have thought I was crazy. I was excusable ; 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 21 

to me that flag seemed everything, mother, home, relatives, friends, 
something to eat, a good bed and rest. Is it any wonder then that a 
famishing man was excited, and felt like hugging that flag to his 
bosom and kissing its hem. 

As soon as my nerves had settled down I sped on my way 
towards the water front of the city. I passed many beautiful 
places of the representatives of foreign countries on the road lead- 
ing to the city. In coming to where it was solidly built up I 
found that the houses were for the most part two stories high, the 
walls were stuccoed and mostly white with here and there one 
tinted with some delicate shade. In many places where the street 
crossed there was a fountain in the centre where the servants and 
poor housekeepers came for the water for the family. The water 
is brought to the city by acqueduct from the mountains forty miles 
away, in fact, from the mountains of the fine road by which I 
traveled in crossing it. It is ever running, ever cool, no better water 
to be found either for drinking, cooking or for the shipping use. 
The overplus finds its way to the bay. There was no underground 
drainage at that time, no water closet in the houses, the offal of the 
city was carried away at night and thrown into the bay, there to 
fester in the hot sun and to be dashed against the shore, and when 
the wind was blowing from that quarter, to fill the city with 
poisonous gas to breed the fever that makes the city so unhealthy. 
I arrived at the water front before dark and found I could not get 
aboard of a ship without paying a boatman to row me there, and 
then to be only a stranger when I got there. So my hopes were 
dashed and home seemed far away. 

I saw some sailors standing before a house, I went there, they 
told me it was a sailors boarding house, the man who kept it was 
an Irishman and had made a great deal of money by boarding 
American sailors, they called him out and I told my story and how 
long I had been without food, all he said to me was " young man I 
think you have brought your eggs to a bad market ", and he turned 
around and said " boys, come in to supper " and that was the last I 
saw of him. 

A little farther along I saw a bakershop kept by a German 
who had made a fortune in baking bread for the American Navy 
and other shipping, I saw a pile of rolls on the counter, I picked 
up one, price one dump or two cents American money, I told him 
it had been almost two days since I had broken my fast, he smiled 
and said the rolls were good, I told him I would like to have one 
but I could not pay for it as I had no money. I never saw a man 
change so quickly in my life, he seemed infuriated, he stamped and 



22 A 'NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

hallooed get out of my shop or I will kick you out. He snatched 
the bread from my hand and gave me a push, and the evil one 
arose within me and I said " if I had you in a woods and was armed 
I would shoot you down with as little compunction as I would a 
mad dog ". And this is the humanity of man for man, I was learn- 
ing the lesson dearly and bitterly, is it any wonder crime stalks 
abroad. 

I wandered sore and sick of life, tired of the meanness to be 
found in some places. I wandered on until I came to a place 
somewhat deserted and dark and found a house with an empty 
space of ground on one side of it, with no windows or doors on 
that side; the heavens were overcast with heavy clouds, thunder 
muttering in the distance. There was a projection of about two 
feet along the top of the house; weary and worn, almost starved, 
now two days since I had anything to eat, I lay me down to a fit- 
ful rest as close to the side of the house as possible, to get the pro- 
tection of the eaves. I had not slept more than an hour when a 
fearful crash of thunder started me upright, for a few minutes the 
lightning flashed and the thunder rolled in a fearful manner, then 
the rain began to pour in torrents, the little hollow alongside the 
house where I had made my bed soon became a running stream; 
drenched to the skin I stood up and leaned against the side of the 
house and shivered all night. At daylight the storm had passed 
away and I ventured again to the water front. What a sight I 
must have been, no coat, duck trousers black with tar, wet to the 
skin, a tarpaulin hat with the American flag painted on the front 
and that flag covered it all, under it I felt like a man, as good as a 
king with all of my woe. 

As I sauntered along the water front I caught the sympathy 
of one who had seen hardships in his younger days, he was an old 
man, rough and grizzled, he had a boat and rowed about from place 
to place selling hot coffee and sandwiches; he gave me a bowl of hot 
coffee and two slices of bread with a piece of meat between them 
and I made a feast that was good for the soul. 

He told me to be around there about ten o'clock when he 
would be through his routine and he would see what he could do 
for me; sure enough at ten o'clock he was there and got me a place 
to stay until I could get a ship for home. ' 

For three or four days I rambled around the city seeing the 
sights, on the second day was the grand parade of the inauguration 
of Dom Pedro on the Throne as Emperor; he was then sixteen 
years old and had been declared in his majority by the Legislative 
Powers. It was a grand sight, army regiments of soldiers of the 



IN BRAZIL, SOUTH AMERICA. 23 

army at the head leading the way, then the church with grand 
paraphernalia with float after float filled with young girls dressed in 
white covered with flowers and posturing to suit the occasion. 
Dom Pedro and his sister stood in a balcony facing the bay at the 
end of the City Palace ; when it was over I saw them come down 
and enter a carriage to which were attached four mules gaily 
caparisoned and they were driven to San Christoval, their country 
palace, a few miles from Rio de Janeiro. 

The next day I was taken sick with a fever brought on by 
want and excitement, in two weeks I was getting to be myself again; 
they had gotten me a place to work my way home on the Barque 
Mary Elizabeth of New York, Captain Trayton. 

Though still weak I went abroad and the steward and I 
stowed away the whole load of coffee as it was brought aboard by 
the lighters. In forty-five days from starting I landed in New 
York without a penny and without a coat ; my intention was to 
earn money to pay my passage home, five dollars would have seen 
me through. I started early in the morning, early in the month of 
May to look for work on a farm, I walked some twenty-five miles 
that day, applied at quite a number of farms and always got no for 
an answer. Without dinner and without supper I sought my 
night's rest in the corner of a fence by the roadside, it being in 
the early part of May it was cold and disagreeable. 

In the morning I traveled on and came to a railroad station, 
there was a freight train here and they were loading it with lum- 
ber, I seized hold of the lumber and helped to pile on the load, 
thinking perhaps I might get some dinner, but I did not. When 
the load was on the superintendent asked me if I would like to go 
to New York, I said yes, he told me to jump on, I arrived in New 
York before night and went down to the barque and had my sup- 
per. The Captain told me to stay on board and use anything I 
wished to eat, and he would employ me on his next voyage, but 
home was uppermost in my mind and how to get there was the 
question revolving therein. I would not beg, I would as leave 
starve to death as steal. If I had had five cents to pay my fare 
across the Hudson I would have walked the one hundred and 
twenty miles to Salem County, New Jersey. Next morning there 
was a foretopsail schooner drawing out of the dock; while helping 
to pass the lines the Captain said he wanted a hand and asked the 
Captain of the barque if he knew where he could get one, here is 
your man pointing to me and I can recommend him as being hon- 
est and true and willing to work, so I hired with him for seven- 
teen dollars a month that I might raise money enough to pay my 



24 A NARRATIVE OF MY WANDERINGS 

fare home. We made a voyage to Hull, England, on the Humber 
River, and arrived in New York five months from the time we 
started. 

I was soon home and I found that I had just been away eleven 
months. My hands grasped with a warm welcome the plow stilts, 
the axe helve and the hoe handle, and this is only one year of an 
eventful life. 

I have written this narrative, I do not know why, I have 
never related it to my mother or any of my relations. My mother, 
while she was proud to hear me tell of what I had seen, never had 
the pain to know how I suffered the penalty of my experience, an 
experience I have never regretted. 

George W. Wheeler. 
914 N. Eleventh Street, 

City of Philadelphia, Pa. 



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